So I have been a long time lurker on here and now I am lucky enough to have taken on my own little retro project to get on the go before I am no longer banned  get my license back in a few weeks. After spending months ( literally) watching auctions on ebay, browsing forums and looking at classified listings, I had worked out much I was going to have to spend and could then work out what I could afford against how much work I was comfortable learning/relying on for a car I want to drive as a daily, which given that up until I had bought the car, my experience of mechanics extended to changing a flat and doing an oil change, which was always going to be a bigger problem that my very limited budget,

 

My quest took me to a place on the internet where the refined meets the tight-fisted and found my breadvan - which is a 1.3 ,5 speed, G reg (89) located less than 15 miles from my house - Banging.

Advert looked promising - 97K on the clock, bodywork looks not awful ( faded but not great-  It is a red car almost 27 years old, so I could overlook this), the engine bay had been neatened up by the previous owner and all red hoses, it even came with the odd cheeky bonus - such as braided brake cables ( this is apparently a good thing) and it was lowered, (I understood that getting coilies all round on a breadvan can be costly as they have to be custom made?) and inspection shows that it sits on springs on the front and coilies at the back. It always came with pressed plate and a rear race strut, which again, sounds all rather lovely.

 

And how much did all this fine automobile set me back - I hear you ask. The car was listed at £250!  and as it up for less than I paid for my TV - I was going to get the car either way - get it back home and find out whether I wanted to take on the work ( Which I was happy to do pending half the car being heavily corroded/cloned/bodged) and If I wasnt happy, my mechanically savvy mate was going to take it off my hands for what I paid for it then it would be his problem - Nothing ventured, nothing gained and all that.

 

My apprehension didnt kick in until we went and viewed the car - My friend drove me down so we could view the car and we turned up to this fairly bleak looking council estate ( think film noir meets this is england) and I met the guy who listed the car ( who was in all fairness a really sound bloke) who told me that the car had no service history, only one, non original key and no exhaust and flexi, so it was nice and quiet as you can imagine. I found out the guy had actually bought the car at auction as it was seized for being driven with no tax and thats why it was up for so cheap ( no one wanted to/was stupid enough to buy a car with no history from a rough looking estate - especially when midway through the car inspection - we are essentially interrupted by the sellers neighbours, who are not only travellers, but visbily upset about the altercation between his older brother and the seller a few nights before.

 

To cut a fucking long story long - I wanted to know whether anyone on here has seen my breadvan before at any shows or meets or whether the previous owner was on here? The car was heavily furnished with numerous stickers, one of which was a clubpolo sticker and is actually one of the main reasons I felt comfortable buying it - as I would have thought a bready coming from an owner on here might have been well looked after - which to its credit - it is!

 

Both these photos were taken when I got the head out - having just replaced the head gasket, lower arms and water pump/cambelt, thermostat and a few rubbers

 

Next port of call is going to be to replace the rear brakes and bleed them - It also might want a gear selector rebuild but I wont know that for sure until everything is running as it should and I am going to have to get the carb tuned as this is something I understand to be very delicate and needs a seasoned hand. Once this is done, it will be off to the MOT centre and then to get the awful filler job on the arches sorted and get the whole car mopped and looking fresh - Oh - and some nice new wheels are to be decided on after gathering some inspriation!

 

As I said before, this is my first time posting something like this and I aim to keep it updated as frequently as the car gets worked on - Its going to be on road in the next 2 weeks and I am looking to take it to a show on the weekend of 4th September so for anyone who might be reading this - Maybe you might see me at some shows!

 

Dont be too scathing, but do be honest!

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

 

welcome to the forum in a none lurking manner...

If you got the v5 buyer's slip from seller you'll get log book from dvla and can look up MOT history

from reg number and v5c? code.

 

It's got aftermarket 4 branch exhaust manifold with a lambda sensor, so might not be carb, but injection. 

8 hours ago, dvderlm said:

welcome to the forum in a none lurking manner...

If you got the v5 buyer's slip from seller you'll get log book from dvla and can look up MOT history

from reg number and v5c? code.

 

It's got aftermarket 4 branch exhaust manifold with a lambda sensor, so might not be carb, but injection. 

Hello! Yeah I have now got the logbook in my name and although it has a fluctuating history, the car reflects that and it looks as if all the structural work was done before I bought it.  Yeah I think it has a custom manifold and I need to get a new front for my exhaust but I thought I had a big old carb, way bigger than the one that should come with the car.

 

post a pic of the carb?

 

It's size of the chokes and venturis that matters.

 

16 hours ago, dvderlm said:

post a pic of the carb?

 

It's size of the chokes and venturis that matters.

 

I will try get one posted up tomorrow, As is, the car sounds kinda flat, but my all knowing mate tells me that this is probably due to the needles in the carb being longer than normal and hence why the retune is required. I think the make is Bhamra? Bharma? Bahaharamamalamalalllama?

 

Going to get my exhaust ordered today and hopefully get the car ( and myself) up to edition in a few weeks!

The lambda sensor has no wires, therefore it definitely points to being a carb at least!

16 minutes ago, MartinB said:

The lambda sensor has no wires, therefore it definitely points to being a carb at least!

 

Thats good to hear as I was under the impression it was a carb! I think because the inlet manifold and the parts of the exhaust I do have are definitley not standard and my mate said it was a custom jobby so race style, which I guess explains the fact that its 4 branch? Have you any recommendations as to a front exhaust and silencer? its pretty much the last part I need to buy to get the car through an MOT and I dont know whether I want to "fabricate" ( read as : find something that can be used as a straight through that fits and bung it in)

 

I am just buzzing to get it on road and actually drive it about, everyone is amazed that I want to drive a car around with a manual choke but I dont want it any other way.

See if you can pick up a GT or G40 centre pipe and backbox. G40 pattern backboxes can be had quite cheap on German eBay with quick delivery times as well!

 

Manual choke eh? Sounds like you have a Weber carb. Very nice!

15 hours ago, MartinB said:

See if you can pick up a GT or G40 centre pipe and backbox. G40 pattern backboxes can be had quite cheap on German eBay with quick delivery times as well!

 

Manual choke eh? Sounds like you have a Weber carb. Very nice!

 

 

I have ended up ordering a front and silencer from Eurocarparts for £25 delivered - with my forum discount code too! The exhaust the car came with is a savage exhaust, which I am led to believe are renowned for being a bit max power magazine, so when funds allow I will be getting a GT or G40 exhaust setup for sure.

 

Yeeeeeah, got me a manual choke. I am confused though, as my carb has a giant air filter looking sponge on the top branded Bhamra or Bhrama or somthing similar, and I think it only has one chamber whereas I always thought a weber carb had two?

 

It is an absolute bessie though. Are you going to be at Edition this year? Looking forward to meeting people from on here who can critique my car :)

theres various webers that could be fitted...best take some pics and someone will i.d it

2 hours ago, steveo3002 said:

theres various webers that could be fitted...best take some pics and someone will i.d it

 

Yeah I would definitley be interested to know what Ive got, like I said previously in the post before that it needs tuning big time but should be nice once running.  Pics will hopefully be obtained tonight and uploaded tomorrow!

On 18/08/2016 at 13:43, steveo3002 said:

theres various webers that could be fitted...best take some pics and someone will i.d it

Heres a photo of the carb in all its glory!

cant i.d the carb from that

 

think thats possibly a gk inlet from  a european car....can check if you have a part number on it

 

also looks like a g40 rocker cover

 

Do not have the number as of right now but can get it for sure, would be interested to know as I am under the impression that GK inlet is somewhat sought after?

I was thinking that too, I had only realised when looking at a few other build threads on here and noticed the similarity - I doubt the lump is a G40 though

yeah i expect someone thought the rocker was cool....not sure i like that big hole in em myself

 

does look just like my GK inlet , yes theyre sought after as theyre much bigger bore than a standard one 

Interestingly, I have since found my bready on here after a bit of a search and weirdly, It seems like it might be a GT conversion, or at least its had a GT head conversion which is great if its the case. I will attach the original thread from back in 2013 -14, the only difference is that the build thread seems to be running a different carb/rocker cover which makes me think its either had parts removed prior to me getting it, or the cover has just been changed and it is infact a GT.

 

 

heads are the same as non gt anyway...just the cam which you might have and the injection gear that you dont have

His for sale ad stated that it had a GT engine in, plus he was selling a load of GT injection parts as well. So essentially, you could have (you'd have to check) a 3F GT lump on a weber with a GK inlet, coupled with that exhaust and i can imagine that you have a pretty fun to drive car on your hands!

For sale/spec list here: